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billion of people and beast are teem and twinge every year by fireants . Their combustion ( hence the name ) bites are especially bad in the southerly states , and bites typically come when fire ant nests are disturb , according to theNational Institutes of Health(NIH ) .
TheNIHalso estimates that this invading insect leads to billions of dollar in agricultural losses every year – that ’s not counting medical price for those who assay treatment from the sting . If you ’re concerned about the potential damage these caustic creepy wiggler can cause your family and property , read on to ascertain how to get rid of flame ants and keep them away .
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GET RID OF FIRE ANTS ASAP
Understanding the Enemy: A Primer on Fire Ants
While there are autochthonal ant species that are n’t particularly invading or aggressive , the cerise imported fire ant ( also have it off as RIFA ) and the black imported fire ant ( BIFA ) are notoriously nasty insect .
The violent fire ant is base in legion southerly and southwestern states , while the smutty flaming pismire is bound to Alabama , northerly Mississippi , and parts of Tennessee . Both types of fire emmet are aggressive , but because RIFA ’s territory is much declamatory , it ’s the master scourge to world , animals , and crop .
The fire ant ’s principal food for thought reference is plant sugar , make them a serious job for farmers , but the emmet also consume insects , rodents , birds , and reptile . They lock onto victims with a powerful four - toothed mandible and then emit an alkaloid - based venom , leaving a red and white pustule in their viewing .
Photo: flickr.com via Elroy Serrao
The spitefulness also contains protein and peptides that can bring forth an allergic reaction . While only 5 percent of fire ant attacks are deadly to man , allergic mortal should get immediate medical attention if they are sting ( the rest of us can just assert a piece and plow the arena as we would a bee sting ) . Small pets and young livestock that disrupt a nest can also be killed by the emmet , so get them treat if they are seriously bite .
How to Identify Fire Ants
To the casual observer , fire ants can be dispute to identify because they tolerate characteristics common to less - aggressive ant . Red fire emmet are reddish - brown in colouration everywhere but their venter , which is translucent , chocolate-brown - grim . Black fire ants are wholly sinister with no other colouration variations .
Both types are relatively modest in size when compared to other character of pismire , range from 0.05 inches up to 0.2 inches . ( For compare , that ’s the dispute in sizing between the point of a sharpened pencil to the sizing of its eraser . ) Fire ant size will vary within a individual settlement .
flak ants may be easier to identify by their deportment : They ’re out and about in the morning or late afternoon , they build a fire ant mound on the ground , and they ’re quick to stream any human or animal that disturbs their nests .
Photo: flickr.com via Elroy Serrao
Fire Ants vs. Red Ants: What’s the Difference?
Red ant are large overall than fire ants , tramp from around 1/3 - inch up to 1/2 - inches long , and they ’re much less aggressive . While reddened emmet ( also called carpenter ants ) can and will bite if they feel threatened they do not pour , meaning an entire dependency of red ant will not rush to attack a single animate being or pet . firing ants do cloud , and dozens of fire ants can stream their victim and then all bite at the same prison term .
Rather than living in nest on the ground , reddened ants commonly draw close in tree and other available Ellen Price Wood , such as woodwind instrument wads or even the woodwind in sheds and house . Red pismire are mostactive at night , when fervency ants are in their nests .
Finding Fire Ants on Your Property, Indoors and Out
Fire ants can stake their claim virtually anywhere — your family , lawn , private road , you name it — and their nest are n’t always seeable .
Spotting flame ant — or discovering they ’re living somewhere nearby after being bitten — is a sure sign of the zodiac you ask to find the nest and kill the colony . Just being sting by an ant or two does n’t imply the pismire are firing ants , but it ’s deserving some investigation .
Fire ants choose quick climate , which means that if you live in a northern state you likely do n’t have to worry that the pismire you line up in your house or yard are fervency ants . If you subsist in a southern clime where fervour ants are common , the first step is to find the nest .
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Locating the Fire Ant Nest
Choosing the Best Indoor and Outdoor Ant Insecticides
The most common elbow room of eradicating ardour ants — or admonish nest - edifice to begin with is to treat a property with insecticides . Many natural- and chemical substance - base mathematical product are usable to handle flak ants . The proficient eccentric ofinsecticide for fire antskills the pests without harm pets or humans .
5 Ways to Get Rid of Fire Ants
There are various ways to cope a fervor ant plague , and each method acting has its advantage and disadvantages . Bear in mind that any coming you take that involves tolerate close to the nest risks instigate a drove and catch stung , so be certain to pitch up with protective clothing before you lead off . Whatever you do , never fight fire ants with fire . It ’s extremely dangerous and ineffective to light a nest with gasoline .
Method 1: Douse the fire ant mound with boiling water.
Pouring boiling body of water on flak ant nest is an honest-to-goodness - school approach . Though costless , organic , and immediate , it ’s not the most effectual at getting disembarrass of ant hills . The chances are slim that the water will make the poove , which resides deep in the nest . soak the mound with liquid insecticide work more or less well .
According to Texas A&M University , the stewing - water method acting works about 60 percentage of the metre . It sure as shooting wo n’t hurt to sample this method if you find a fervidness ant mound on your property and you have no other treatment at hand . Here ’s what to do : rain buckets 2 - 3 gallons of boiling water ( function concern not to splash skin ) directly on the mound . The serious course of action is to look until the firing emmet are in their nest ( ordinarily in belated evening ) , pour the piddle quickly , and then leave the area at once . The flaming ants that do n’t perish may move to a different blot .
Method 2: Drench the ant hill with a pesticide.
A quick and effective way to eradicate a fire ant problem is to drench the hammock with a swimming pesticide . This method acting is more effective than boiling water because the poison diffuse deeply into the ant pile . Liquid products , such asBayer ’s Tempo , are often extremely concentrated ; users should conflate at least 2 - 3 gallon of solution agree to the producer ’s instructions and expend it to imbrue the ant hill . This product kill on contact and leaves active residue behind that kills other ants as they get in or exit the nest .
Bear in thinker , though , that this proficiency is just as speculative as the stewing urine method acting because the designated ant exterminator has to stand close to the nest to pullulate the solution . You also put on the line shed the insecticide on your body or swash it in your boldness . We ca n’t stress enough how important it is to wear protective gloves , face coverings , and clothing , and proceed with caveat .
Method 3: Bait worker ants in order to kill the fire ant queen.
Placing bait around a mound or in areas where nests may be hidden is a secure , reasonably effective means of fire ant direction , though it ’s not a flying fix . The ants take the bait and dribble it deep inside their nest , ideally kill the queen .
If you require to examine this method yourself , sprinkle a bait such asAmdro Fire Ant Bait Granuleson the ground around the fervency ant nest . you could also spread it over an entire lawn with a broadcast spreader . The goal is to have the worker ants gather the bait and carry it back to the nest , where any ants that eat it — let in the settlement queen — will die .
Method 4: Spread a broadcast insecticide treatment.
This is the best way to down fire ants that have overcome a sizable outdoor area . The ant - blight householder can toss out handfuls of granules as if prey chickens , and the ants will bestow the granules home . This method is safer than pouring insecticide or boiling water on the nest because the homeowner does n’t directly engage with the nest . However , some granules may be light tender and turn a loss their deadly potency before the pismire bung on them . A broadcastspreaderis a more effective way to treat large yards .
A broadcast insect powder , such asOrtho ’s Fire Ant Killer , regale an arena up to 5,000 square substructure and will remain potent for up to six months . Broadcast insecticides are also helpful at deterring fervidness ants that are looking for a new place to start a nest , so they are useful as contraceptive as well as flack ant killers .
Method 5: Call in a professional exterminator.
Professional exterminators from one of thebest pest control companiessuch asOrkinorTerminixhave access to more potent insecticides than those sold over the counter .
Products such asBayer ’s Top Choicecan be applied by a broadcast spreader , but it may only be used by a accredited master due to the risk of obliterate aquatic life should it enter the water flow . manufacturer of ware like Top Choice are restricted from selling the insecticide to anyone other than a certified applier .
A once - a - year treatment with Top Choice ordinarily cost about $ 500 per Akko , which is pricey but worth it if you ’re genuinely well over with fervor ants . Another top is that you wo n’t want to get close to a fire ant nest so as to kill the small buggers .
Photo: istockphoto.com istockphoto.com
Final Thoughts
firing ants are a problem in southern DoS . They ’re much more fast-growing than ordinary ants , and they can be difficult to identify unless you ’re familiar with the species . In the preceding few decades , fire emmet have show up in more significant numbers in places where they determine abundant nutrient sources , peculiarly if the food is sweet like grapes or cantaloupes .
Most hoi polloi are not hypersensitive to fire ant snack , but nevertheless find the sore bites miserably uncomfortable . When one fire ant bites , often , the bite is accompanied by piles of other fire ant bites .
The risk to pets , humans , and crops is too significant just to disregard the pests , which are study invasive . Both homeowners and renters who dwell in area known for fire ants should take steps to eradicate the aggressive ants and discourage them from setting up shop .
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FAQs
Most ants bite only to protect their nest and settlement . Fire ant seize with teeth for that reason , also , but they ’re much prompt to ira , and biting is their first reaction .
A brine solution will kill ants on contact if sprayed directly on the ants , but it also kills desired vegetation and remains in the dirt . After the answer dry out , the residual Strategic Arms Limitation Talks leave behind wo n’t kill other ants .
Like salt , bleach will bolt down ants if sprayed directly on them . But it dries quickly and then it ’s no longer effective .
They ’re often draw to food source , such as yield left out — especially if it starts to dilapidate . They ’re also draw to other types of food they can easily access , such as dry cat and andiron nutrient .
The speedy way is to find their nest and then drench it with an insecticidal root .
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